Reading With Your Child

You are not very fond of reading. But you want your child to get into the habit of reading early in life — something that you never had.

The best way to handle this issue is to start with story telling early. If you are not much of a storyteller, try and see if you can get your imagination rolling. For all you know you may develop into a wonderful story teller. Ask your spouse to try it too.

Reading With Your Child [Illustration by Shiju George]

As your child grows up, take some time out to read to him and who knows, you might slowly realise your inclination towards reading.

Besides, you could try out some age old tips.

Establish a regular reading time. Help your child develop a habit of reading before he goes to bed. Before he starts reading, you could read out to him. Not only does it make a good bedtime ritual by relaxing your child, it also promotes reading.

Discuss what you are reading with your child. Your child may want to talk about the story you read to him last night. You would thus be encouraging your child’s interest in a particular book.

Visit the library regularly. One of your dates with your child could be a visit to the library. It is nice to spend half an hour hunting for books to take home for the next couple of weeks.

Make book buying a practice. Set aside some money in your budget every month to buy books.

Let your children see you read. Remember, kids learn mostly by imitation. If he sees you reading, he will try to do the same.